Attkisson: I was called a troublemaker for pursuing Obama administration scandals

posted at 9:21 am on April 11, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

It’s been a month since Sharyl Attkissonleft CBS News, a departure which many assumed related to editorial interference with her reporting on stories that focused on Obama administration scandals. Attkisson appeared last night on Fox’s O’Reilly Factor and confirmed those assumptions. Attkisson tells Bill O’Reilly that CBS News labeled her a “troublemaker” for her insistence on sticking with stories such as the Fast & Furious scandal. CBS wanted her to drop the Fast & Furious story over “a lack of interest,” and Attkisson says that the “interest” issue was editorial rather than audience related.

ATTKISSON: It just came to be that, I don’t think on the viewer’s part, but on the people that decide what stories go into the broadcast and what there’s room for, they felt fairly early on that this story was over when I felt as though we had barely begun to scratch the surface. They didn’t ask me what was left to report, they just decided on their own that this story was –

O’REILLY: So they pulled the rug from you. And I worked at CBS News. I know how it goes. You can’t investigate a story unless you get a budget to do so, and approval of the higher ups, okay, you are going to do assignment O’Reilly or Attkisson. And this assignment will go to this show. That’s how the structure works. They didn’t want any part of it over there.

Okay. How about Benghazi, what did you find out about that?

ATTKISSON: Benghazi I was assigned to look into about three weeks after the attacks happened by management, and pursue that aggressively. And as I felt we were beginning to scratch beneath the surface on that scandal as well, which I think had many legitimate questions yet to be asked and answered, interest was largely lost in that story as well on the part of the people that are responsible for deciding what goes on the news.

O’REILLY: So did they tell you, look, we don’t want you to spend any more time on this? Was it that direct?

ATTKISSON: No. It’s more as though there is no time in the broadcast. They really, really liked the story but you start to hear from, you know, other routes that why don’t you just leave it alone, and you know, you are kind of a trouble maker because you are still pursuing it. It kind of goes from hot to cold in one day, sometimes. Where they are asking you to pursue something heavily and then it’s almost as if a light switch goes off and they look at you all of a sudden as if, why are you bringing us this story?

CBS News also lost interest in ObamaCare despite all of the security issues that would have made for a huge story had it taken place in the private sector:

ATTKISSON: I was asked by CBS to look into ObamaCare and it had a similar trajectory whereby we broke some interesting stories that I felt like we were uncovering some good information and making headway, but we and I feel like a lot of the media after several weeks of this kind of fell off the radar on the story to a large degree, on the critical looks that we were taking. It’s security issues, the lack of transparency, the lack of providing of figures and information that I think belonged in the public domain, belonged to us, that were being withheld. While being provided in some cases to corporate partners of the government, being withheld from us though.

O’REILLY: When you say security, you mean people’s health records and things like that and that they’re not secure?

ATTKISSON: Right. Just before Christmas came word that the top security official, the computer security person who still works there at HHS had refused to sign off and recommended, in fact, that this web site not go live because of all the security issues. And that was not considered a big enough story, I suppose, is the way to put it by those who decide what goes on the air. But I thought it was hugely important, because this is an insider, someone who works in the Obama administration who had made this assessment. And if you look at having had something like that occur with a private corporation that proceeded to go online with all of these alleged security risks, I think the government would be very upset by that if the tables were turned. But here was the United States government doing it.

And for some reason, the editors at CBS News found that … uninteresting. Those who wanted to cover it were troublemakers. Granted, this is only Attkisson’s side of the story, but their coverage on all of these scandals without Attkisson speaks for itself, as does her departure from the network after providing the coverage she gave these scandals.

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Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point, she may have been a little more detailed about Fast & Furious until Mr. O’Reilly interrupts her and interjects his own point of view?

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point, she may have been a little more detailed about Fast & Furious until Mr. O’Reilly interrupts her and interjects his own point of view?

The bottom line is this: they are the gatekeepers. They decide. Next Republican Admin – they will dust off the megaphones – destroy the admin until we elect another communist – someone even worse than Obama, probably. I do not think there is ANYTHING a progressive could do anymore that would rouse the media’s indignation or sense of outrage. I even wonder if pedophile would incur their wrath.

Day at the Beach vs. Day at the Dentist in terms of how the story was covered, but in this case, it wasn’t even the person doing the report who considered looking into Fast and Furious was the equivalent of visiting your orthodontist when he’s out of Novocaine.

It was Attkisson’s editors and other higher-ups who didn’t want to endure the pain of where the story might lead, so they simply decided not to let her do the story anymore — though as cocooned as liberals are in their New York-Washington bubbles, I’m sure among the people the CBS group deals with every day, there wasn’t any “interest” in following the story, even if it was drawing tons of looks from conservatives. They much rather would have had Sharyl doing a multi-part series on the Koch Brothers and their total ownership Canadian tar sands oil reserves (not true, but when the wishful left hears a story like that, and unlike F&F, then it becomes a Day at the Beach to pursue the story for years not matter how many times it’s disproven).

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point,

fourdeucer on April 11, 2014 at 9:28 AM

Because he’s an arrogant prick. A white version of Obama who thinks that he’s smarter than any of the “folks” he brings on to scream at. Whatever point Attkisson was going to make couldn’t possibly be more profound than what O’Reilly had to say.

The irony is that the sycophantic, corrupt press is a big reason why Obama’s been such a disaster. If there was at least a smidgen(to borrow a term from Dear Leader) of accountability demanded by the drive-by media from this administration, disasters like the Obamacare rollout probably wouldn’t happen in the first place.

ATTKISSON: It kind of goes from hot to cold in one day, sometimes. Where they are asking you to pursue something heavily and then it’s almost as if a light switch goes off and they look at you all of a sudden as if, why are you bringing us this story?

Hmm, sounds like the Obama administration may made phone calls to shut down the stories… Maybe certain relatives of CBS higher ups…?

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point, she may have been a little more detailed about Fast & Furious until Mr. O’Reilly interrupts her and interjects his own point of view?

fourdeucer on April 11, 2014 at 9:28 AM

Blowhard..

PatriotRider on April 11, 2014 at 9:30 AM

Yep… But Hannity does that to guests a lot too. It’s as though they are only interested using guests to make a predetermined point and not interested in where questioning may actually lead. It’s unfortunate.

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point,

fourdeucer on April 11, 2014 at 9:28 AM

Because he’s an arrogant prick. A white version of Obama who thinks that he’s smarter than any of the “folks” he brings on to scream at. Whatever point Attkisson was going to make couldn’t possibly be more profound than what O’Reilly had to say.

O’Reilly is a pinhead.

Happy Nomad on April 11, 2014 at 9:36 AM

Yes and no. He is a blowhard, but you don’t go to TV for a detailed analysis. It’s just not practical; the written word is much more efficient and amenable to structuring your thoughts in an understandable way. On TV they’ve got to keep things moving and hit the main points.

Caught O’Reilly’s schtick Memo a couple nights ago….on Jeb’s Amnesty for Illegals.
If we don’t do Amnesty, the Republic will disappear and the world will end….we have to give in to all the wolrld’s poor….it’s for the chillun, you know.
Is he being paid by Soros now?
Never again…O’Reilly or Amnesty
III

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point,

fourdeucer on April 11, 2014 at 9:28 AM

Because he’s an arrogant prick. A white version of Obama who thinks that he’s smarter than any of the “folks” he brings on to scream at. Whatever point Attkisson was going to make couldn’t possibly be more profound than what O’Reilly had to say.

O’Reilly is a pinhead.

Happy Nomad on April 11, 2014 at 9:36 AM

Couldn’t have put it better myself. BO has the ego of Lindsey Lohan and the talent of Miley Cyrus. Sean Hannity is a chrome-plated Cub Scout who can play one note on the harmonica. Neil Cavuto is the most pathetically transparent, shameless apologist for any scandal or wrongdoing on Wall Street (I’ll never forget how he tried to soft-soap the Kenneth Lay conviction). If you want to let a whorehouse of swine infiltrate our Financial District, put Cavuto in charge of security.

I like Gutfeld, and for reasons I can’t understand, I really like Kimberly Guilfoyle. Bob Becket needs to put the fork down.

Todd Starnes is an embarrassment to bipeds everywhere. One of these days, the Feds are going to arrest him for an attempt on the life of Elton John.

FoxNews may not be the walking cancer libs claim it is, but it is every bit as pathetic and a joke of a “news” organization as CNN or MSNBC.

CBS wanted her to drop the Fast & Furious story over “a lack of interest,” and Attkisson says that the “interest” issue was editorial rather than audience related.

One of the rat-eared wonder’s security advisors, Ben Rhodes, was instrumental in changing the Benghazi talking points before Susan Rice lied her ass off on Sunday talk shows. Attkisson was making some inconvenient reports about Benghazi so Ben Rhodes does what any good civil servant would do….. He called his brother David who “happens” to be President of CBS News and tells him to shut her down.

One of many of these cozy media/WH relationships. Jay Carney’s wife is Claire Shipman, senior national correspondent Good Morning America. And of course there is the fun of seeing George Stephanapoulus interviewing David Axelrod. A Clinton insider turned journalist interviewing a journalist turned Obama syncophant.

How could you attack all those FNC folks and forget the most annoying and talentless one of all?

Shep Smith who is drawn to car chases in Southern California like dogs to a squirrel. I’ll never forget him standing outside the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans and doing that utterly unprofessional anti-Bush rant in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Because he’s an arrogant prick. A white version of Obama who thinks that he’s smarter than any of the “folks” he brings on to scream at. Whatever point Attkisson was going to make couldn’t possibly be more profound than what O’Reilly had to say.

O’Reilly is a pinhead.

Happy Nomad on April 11, 2014 at 9:36 AM

Completely agree. I stopped watching him years ago, after I wrote him an e-mail expressing my personal gratitude that free speech was not dependent upon his personal whims after his report literally ASKING THE GOVERNMENT TO SHUT DOWN FREE SPEECH regarding the idiot burning copies of the Koran. If you want to burn a Koran (or Bible, or a few thousands copies of the Twilight series, etc.), you are free to do so. O’Reilly wanted Obama to stop the guy. I wrote in calling him out on it and, without my permission, he edited my e-mail to mask my point and cover for his own stupidity.

The irony of a guy who makes his living by ‘speech’ asking the government to censor others’ speech was, and is, apparently beyond him, as is the irony of a guy who makes his living by ‘speech’ continually interrupting the speech of others.

He’s intolerable to listen to; an annoying, arrogant blowhard of a prick.

Slightly off-topic, but this here is an excellent illustration why I can’t stand Bill O’Reilly and can’t explain why he remains so popular:

ATTKISSON: It just came to be that, I don’t think on the viewer’s part, but on the people that decide what stories go into the broadcast and what there’s room for, they felt fairly early on that this story was over when I felt as though we had barely begun to scratch the surface. They didn’t ask me what was left to report, they just decided on their own that this story was –

O’REILLY: So they pulled the rug from you. And I worked at CBS News. I know how it goes. You can’t investigate a story unless you get a budget to do so, and approval of the higher ups, okay, you are going to do assignment O’Reilly or Attkisson. And this assignment will go to this show. That’s how the structure works. They didn’t want any part of it over there.

Okay. How about Benghazi, what did you find out about that?

I saw him do this so many times that is nauseating: he has somebody interesting on his show, somebody who has something to say that I want to hear and he ask an interesting question. The interviewee starts to answer and says something that catch your attention (“they just decided on their own that this story was..”) and O’Reilly interrupts TO LET US KNOW THAT HE WORKED AT CBS and yada, yada, yada…and I end up wanting to bang my head against the wall

He’s intolerable to listen to; an annoying, arrogant blowhard of a prick.

xNavigator on April 11, 2014 at 10:16 AM

O’Reilly is becoming a shill for amnesty and the GOP establishment. He’s largely uninformed on the issue, and credits the Obama regime with more deportations than any other administration. I don’t think he’s aware that Obama’s crowd has changed the way the numbers are produced.

He is also conducting some kind of jihad against the internet, which is pretty annoying. He blames the internet for all of society’s ills.

He has also been pretty clueless about who Obama really is politically. He likes to say he’s “fair” to Obama and he spent most of Obama’s first term wondering if Obama was a “pragmatic centrist”, or if he’s really a “left wing guy.”

I’ve been watching his show less and less – but I’ve become pretty addicted to Megyn Kelly’s new show.

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point, she may have been a little more detailed about Fast & Furious until Mr. O’Reilly interrupts her and interjects his own point of view?

fourdeucer on April 11, 2014 at 9:28 AM

Because the Ted Baxter show is first and foremost about Ted Baxter. The guests are just props used to better illustrate his brilliance.

I think this is the first time I have ever said this about a reporter but its worth saying. I think we (as in everyone not just conservatives) have lost a very valuable resource with her dismissal.
I didn’t always agree with her but I always respected her and listened to what she had to say. And that was prior to the FF stuff, I don’t think I disagreed with anything she reported from that timeframe on.
We need more like her, someone not willing to soften a blow just due to political party.

O’Reilly is becoming a shill for amnesty and the GOP establishment. He’s largely uninformed on the issue, and credits the Obama regime with more deportations than any other administration. I don’t think he’s aware that Obama’s crowd has changed the way the numbers are produced.
TarheelBen on April 11, 2014 at 10:40 AM

He always has been.. was vocal about it during Bush attempt at comprehensive immigration reform.

As far as O’Reilly – can’t stand his arrogance (let alone much that he espouses) – haven’t watched him in years and then only once in a blue moon. I seriously don’t understand why his ratings are so high.

Did he ask her if CBS computer security people ever definitively determined who broke not her work and home computers? Last we heard on this story she implied they had some solid leads and were going to have a story to tell. Since then, silence.

Why does Mr. O’Reilly have to interrupt everyone in the middle of their point,

Mr. O’Reilly is a wonderful person, as long as you worship him as if he were a God. Are you aware he is an Irish Catholic and that he grew up in Levittown? The combination of which entitles only him to moral superiority over mere mortals.

What I want to know more than anything is who was accessing her computer for Benghazi files. She indicated that she knew and then went silent. At this point I’m assuming the silence is due to threats of a magnitude that could get a SCOTUS justice to switch his vote.

Where they are asking you to pursue something heavily and then it’s almost as if a light switch goes off and they look at you all of a sudden as if, why are you bringing us this story?

Direct coercion from the Regime on her bosses. I’ve seen this behavior from managers before and it’s always because of pressure from above.

Mr. O’Reilly is a wonderful person, as long as you worship him as if he were a God. Are you aware he is an Irish Catholic and that he grew up in Levittown? The combination of which entitles only him to moral superiority over mere mortals.

Wallythedog on April 11, 2014 at 11:54 AM

I used to watch O’Reilly, but not anymore. Bill thinks not only does he and he alone know what Jesus was thinking, but he thinks he knows more than Jesus.

The interviewee starts to answer and says something that catch your attention (“they just decided on their own that this story was..”) and O’Reilly interrupts TO LET US KNOW THAT HE WORKED AT CBS and yada, yada, yada…and I end up wanting to bang my head against the wall

O’Reilly’s habit of constantly interrupting is one of the reasons I never watch him. Also he’s just too wishy-washy about every subject. I’m not crazy about Hannity but I really can’t say why. It’s as if he’s a one-note band. Shepard Smith does what he does very well. His audience likes it and he does hit on all the news stories which most of the others don’t. Hey, I like car chases. Cavuto? Business-boring.

I found out that we had to quit pursuing the story, more or less, due to lack of interest, well before we found answers to a lot of questions, including what about all the other cases besides the one you know that was “Fast and Furious.” They were using similar strategies to transfer weapons down to Mexico. And how did this, if at all, play into a strategy the United States may be using to draw support – or give support toward one of the cartels in Mexico against one of the others, much like they had done in Columbia and other places –

Those who remember my posts on Fast and Furious will recall that I said exactly the same thing, that there was more going on here than just corrupt incompetency in a local BATFE office and US Attorney’s office.

Unless Holder is thrown in jail for contempt of Congress, we won’t see the truth until at least 2017.

O’Reilly is becoming a shill for amnesty and the GOP establishment. He’s largely uninformed on the issue, and credits the Obama regime with more deportations than any other administration. I don’t think he’s aware that Obama’s crowd has changed the way the numbers are produced.

TarheelBen on April 11, 2014 at 10:40 AM

We can say that BOR is “largely uninformed on the issue” no matter what the issue is.

The biggest problem is that the main-stream media ignores or downplays Conservative rallies, while they play-up Leftist ones, so there is no easy comparison of the true power of the two blocs.
I would guess it takes a 10-1 advantage for the Conservatives to get traction.